Hallucinations can be unsettling for seniors and worrisome for their caregivers. These experiences may stem from a variety of underlying causes, with dementia being just one among many. Other health conditions can also disrupt mental clarity, leading to altered perceptions. Here, we explore seven common causes of hallucinations in older adults.
What are Hallucinations?
A senior who hallucinates experiences something that is not based in reality. These hallucinations may involve the visual, tactile, auditory, or olfactory senses. Older adults may even taste things that are not present. Visual hallucinations tend to be the most common among dementia patients.
Hallucinations range from simple to complex. Seeing flashing lights, for example, is a simple hallucination. However, the elderly can experience far more complex hallucinations, such as seeing animals, people, or unusual situations. The hallucinations feel real to the senior experiencing them.
A range of symptoms often accompany hallucinations. These include mental health conditions, like depression or anxiety. Vision or hearing problems are additional symptoms. Hallucinating adults may become aggressive or paranoid, or believe in fictional conspiracies. Seizures and headaches may occur.
What Causes Hallucinations in the Elderly?
1. Dementia
Older adults who hallucinate often suffer from damage to their brains. This damage may be caused by Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, like Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia. Hallucinations are common in seniors with progressive brain diseases like these.
As mentioned, visual hallucinations are most common in dementia patients. They may see bugs crawling on their arms or a loved one’s face in the curtains. Auditory hallucinations are also frequent in this group; seniors may hear people talking or holding conversations.
2. Medication Side Effects
Side effects of certain prescription drugs are known to trigger hallucinations in the elderly. These include medications to treat Parkinson’s disease. As the Parkinson’s drugs increase dopamine levels in the brain to control motor symptoms, fleeting yet bothersome hallucinations can result.
3. Vision Loss
Sometimes, hallucinations are due to poor vision rather than mental or cognitive issues. The visual hallucinations occur as the senior’s sight deteriorates. Glaucoma, which causes vision loss, increases the risk of hyperactivity in the brain, leading to the senior seeing things that aren’t there.
4. Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Charles Bonnet Syndrome, a health condition that occurs in older adults with partial or severe blindness, can cause visual hallucinations. Due to the loss of vision, the brain compensates by creating complex, vivid, or realistic images, causing the aging person to believe they are real.
5. Physical Illness
A physical illness, like fever, migraine, or infection, can trigger hallucinations in the elderly. Seniors who experience a stroke or seizure might hallucinate. Pneumonia and other conditions that cause infection or inflammation interfere with brain function and cause delirium. Delirium can lead to hallucinations.
Urinary tract infections (UTI) can produce altered mental states in the elderly. An altered mental state is a prominent symptom and oftentimes the only symptom of a UTI in older people. Hallucinating seniors with a UTI can also experience confusion, agitation, and dizziness.
6. Lack of Sleep
A lack of quality sleep, which is defined as 7 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep, can produce hallucinations in seniors. Nighttime hallucinations are common in the elderly, too, which can lead to a cycle of sleep disturbances and more hallucinations.
7. Dehydration
Older adults must stay hydrated daily to maintain their overall health. Dehydration can cause hallucinations, among other health concerns. Hallucinations that are caused by dehydration are medical emergencies and should prompt the caregiver to seek immediate care or call 911.
How are Hallucinations Treated?
Hallucinations are often symptoms of a condition rather than a health issue. Before treating the hallucinations, caregivers must pinpoint the exact cause. Altered mental states caused by dehydration, for instance, can be improved by serving the senior hydrating beverages.
If Charles Bonnet Syndrome is responsible for the hallucinations, turning on extra lighting can alleviate symptoms. Doctors can adjust prescription medications if their side effects are causing the senior to see and hear things. Physicians can also prescribe anti-anxiety drugs to calm them.
How Should Caregivers Respond to Hallucinations?
Environmental factors often contribute to the senior’s hallucinations. Fortunately, these factors can be modified. Older people prone to hallucinations might see nighttime shadows and mistake them for something else. In such cases, move household objects around to reduce the shadows.
Stay calm and avoid contradicting the senior’s reports of hallucinations. Especially in older dementia patients, the hallucinations seem authentic, and they are unable to rationalize what is real and what is not. Instead, validate their feelings of fear, joy, or confusion and offer reassurance.
Activities and distractions also help divert the older person from their hallucinations. Suggest going for a walk, which can take their mind off the disturbances. Start a puzzle, offer a snack, or look through photo albums with the senior. Encourage them to perform a task that helps them feel successful.
Dementia Care from Assisting Hands
Managing hallucinations in the elderly is best done with the help of caregivers. When you are too busy to support the senior, turn to Assisting Hands Home Care. Our reputable home care agency is committed to serving the non-medical care needs of older adults with hands-on dementia care.
Skilled dementia caregivers are ready to help your aging loved one manage their symptoms. Our experienced memory caregivers utilize distraction techniques, like turning on the senior’s favorite music or giving them a healthy snack, to alleviate aggression, agitation, and hallucinations. Additional care responsibilities include help with daily activities, such as hygiene tasks, meal preparation, and medication reminders. We provide transportation to the doctor’s office so seniors can discuss their health concerns. Caregivers are also pleasant companions who deter loneliness.
When your aging loved one suffers from hallucinations, remember they can be successfully treated. Choose Assisting Hands Home Care for compassionate in-home support. We serve Hollywood, Florida, and the nearby areas. Schedule a free in-home consult today to learn about quality senior home care.
